Not Just Goalies Back Crease-interference Crackdown

On the NHL - KAREN CROUSE

There was a time when skaters tried to bowl over a goaltender as though he were the headpin standing between them and a spare.

It happened to Panthers goalie John Vanbiesbrouck in his second full season with the Rangers, in 1986, when he was leveled in a playoff game by 6-foot-5 winger Dave Brown.

Brown, then of Philadelphia, spent two minutes in the penalty box for goaltender interference. Vanbiesbrouck, meanwhile, said he "kind of felt the effects of it for the next day or so."

Fearful that its goaltenders were headed the way of the manatee, the NHL devised new ways to protect netminders. One of the brainstorms is the controversial rule that prohibits players from the attacking team from being in the crease when a goal is scored. The rule is why you see such players as Panthers right winger Scott Mellanby jump out of the crease at the first sign of an incoming puck.

It's also why Vancouver defenseman Bret Hedican was apoplectic this month after his potential go-ahead goal against the Panthers was disallowed.

Some people, though, remain unapologetic. "Anytime we get a good rule, we start complaining and want to change it," said Panthers General Manager Bryan Murray. "I think it's great."

Asked his opinion, NHL Vice President Brian Burke cut to the crease.

"The zero-tolerance rule has been around for years," he said.

"It's not something new this year. [The difference is) we're being correct with it now."

Indeed, the only tinkering the league's general managers did over the summer to the rule that prevents players from crashing the crease was a little fine tuning.

They gave the referee the authority to ask the video judge to review a goal if he believes a crease infraction might have occurred. Before this season the referee had to make a split-second judgment based on what he saw unfold in front of the net. That was no easy task given that the traffic around the goalie.

The general managers have approved a rule change, starting next season pending the Board of Governors' approval, that will allow the video goal judge to call down to the referee to initiate a review. The effect of the extra pairs of eyes is elemental.

"It takes any judgment call out of the referee's hands," said Mellanby, who has been caught in the crease on a few would-be goals. "It's cut and dried."

An NHL rule without as many interpretations as the scriptures? No wonder some of the players and coaches have been slow to convert. The surprise is that even some of the players who are the beneficiaries of the rule are doubting disciples. "I think it's good players aren't crashing the crease and the goalie," said Panthers netminder Mark Fitzpatrick. "But if a player is in the crease and he didn't have anything to do with the play, I think there has to be some work done on that."

New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur agreed, adding, "Guys were going after the net like crazy, so the rule has helped goaltenders. But I think it's getting a little carried away when the guy [called for the infraction) is not even close to the play."

Burke's rejoinder: "We had a no-harm, no-foul rule before and it didn't work. Players are smart. They make adjustments according to what they can and can't get away with."

Until further review (probably at the general managers' meetings this summer), forwards are advised: If you can't stand the heat, get out of the crease. "It's like the offside rule. It's black-and-white," Murray said.

"Just apply the rules. If we would do the same thing with all the rules, it would be a great game."

Shockey journalism

The same audience that made Howard Stern's cinematic life story, Private Parts, the No. 1 film at the box office in its opening weekend no doubt devoured like popcorn recent radio revelations coming out of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

In one, the wives of the Penguins' Mario Lemieux and Edmonton's Petr Klima were portrayed as lesbian lovers. The other had the Flyers' Eric Lindros missing a game because of a hangover. That neither allegation has a kernel of truth in it hardly seems to matter to a segment of society that craves juicy gossip and revels in the outrageous (see Dennis Rodman).

Sadly, in the name of building an audience, some members of the Fourth Estate are razing their ethical standards. Lost in the rubble is truth. Journalists as reporters and recorders of the facts? Get real. Doug Westerman, the executive producer of a Minneapolis-based all-sports station, spoke for the new wave of journalists when he said, "We have only one rule: Be entertaining."

Chris Moore, the radio voice of the Panthers, called the new trend "kamikaze radio."

"It's built on the premise that any reputation you get, even if it's a bad one, is better than no reputation at all," said Moore, who has a much more traditional weekday show on WQAM that airs from noon to 3. "People listen because if they don't, they may miss something [outrageous)."